Accessibility

Aids to operating this website

Menu systems

The menu systems of this site are designed to be highly accessible, and utilise clean structural code which provides context-sensitive navigation around the website. Each navigation area has a specific purpose and reflects a level of the website's hierarchy.

Access keys

The first navigation area on this site contains access keys which you can use to navigate the site. To find these access keys simply hover over the respective links in the first menu system, or check the link titles using assistive technology.

Site map

This site has a fully automated hierarchical sitemap which you can find linked to prominently on all pages. The site map is designed to communicate the hierarchical structure of the website and provide quick access to all pages.

Search

The search facility of this website provides an alternative route to finding information across the whole site. This searches all live content. The search results pages are designed to work well on normal browsers and assistive technology - with additional information about each page (type of page, date last updated, and so forth) being available in the code of the results page.

Breadcrumb trail

The breadcrumb trail on this website is designed to assist with orientation and navigation. You should use this to help find your way within the site; and may use it to navigate back to relevant higher-level pages once you are deeper within the site.

Font scaling

The initial font sizes of this site are designed to be clear and readably for a wide audience whilst making neat use of available screen space. The fonts are scalable and can use your browser controls to increase or decrease the font size.

Auto Title

All pages are set to have an automatic ‘heading 1' and page title tag. This allows you to identify quickly the purpose of a given page using a web browser or assistive technology

Text only link.

You should find a text only link at the top of all pages. This allows you to view a high contrast and low-bandwidth version of the website where the code has been re-arranged and optimised for assistive technology. Within text-only mode, you can change your preferred colours and font-sizes to suit your reading preferences.

Prominent contact information

We have provided prominent contact information on this site in order to make ourselves available to answer any questions. We are available to help you find the information you may be looking for.

Steps taken to ensure our site is accessible

Design

In commissioning the design of this website, we have made accessibility a clear requirement from the outset. This has been at the forefront of our minds in reviewing all design mock-ups, and we have taken guidance where appropriate on ensuring our design facilitates an accessible website.

Technology

This website is built using an accessible Content Management System (Sitekit CMS) which we chose after a careful selection process.

The Content Management System provides the technical framework which underpins all of the information published on this site, and as such, built-in accessibility is important.

We have used the Content Management System in a fashion which does not undermine it's intrinsically accessible technical foundation; we have used pre-tested and compliant modules within the system wherever possible; and we have taken time to research the accessibility features of the system and incorporated these carefully within our site in a fashion which we believe makes good use of the technology.